Threaded paint applicators that are provided with a paint supply bottle are well known in the art. Traditional threaded or screw-on or bottle-top style paint applicators and other liquid compound applicators are often compatible with only a single thread configuration. Lack of uniformity among such paint applicators thus allow for attachment primarily to only a bottle or reservoir supplied by the manufacturer of the applicator. The consumer is required to fill the manufacturer's supplied bottle with separately purchased or otherwise acquired liquid compounds. As such, the applicator itself is limited in use to only those liquid products that may be poured or transferred into the accompanying bottle or reservoir that has been supplied by the applicator's manufacturer, therefore limiting the products to which the applicator may apply.
If a consumer, or layman, or one skilled in the art, were to separately purchase a threaded bottle, or threaded container, or threaded reservoir, that contains a supply of paint or other liquid compound, with the intent of affixing such applicator to the threaded bottle, the traditional bottle-top applicator could not be mated, or used, or affixed to that separately purchased bottle unless the bottle had the same screw-on thread design, or pattern, or configuration as that of the applicator itself. For example, a 24/400 threaded bottle will accept only a 24/400 threaded bottle top applicator.
Threaded adapters, or threaded couplers, or threaded union devices are well known and may employ a variety of screw-on thread configurations. It is also well known that national and international associations have been formed to develop and standardize specific thread configurations that are common among specific industries.
For example, within the plumbing industry, thread configurations follow the National Pipe Thread (NPT) standards, whereas manufacturers of screws follow the Unified Thread Standard (UTS). Within the glass and plastic bottle industry, screw-on thread configurations follow the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) thread standards. Among the previous examples, there exists no commonly known substitution that allows for proper connection of a screw-on thread configuration of one industry standard to be properly mated with a screw-on thread configuration of a separate industry standard.
It is also well known to one skilled in the art that a male-threaded device of a specific screw-on thread configuration may be properly mated only to an appropriately sized female-threaded device of the same screw-on thread configuration. As such, to the layman or consumer, significant difficulty lies in the identification of such mating thread configurations unless adequate information is provided that identifies the thread configuration of the products that the consumer is utilizing.
Should the consumer, or layman, or one skilled in the art, wish to unite, couple, or mount an applicator for liquid compound or paint that maintains a coupling mechanism configured as a screw-on thread configuration, and then subsequently affix the coupling mechanism to a threaded bottle, or a threaded reservoir, or a threaded fluid feed that incorporated a dissimilar screw-on thread configuration, a separate union, mounting device, adapter, or coupling apparatus might be required to make such a connection. A female screw-on threaded component that mates to a male screw-on thread configuration of the bottle, or reservoir, or threaded fluid feed would be required. The threaded component would preferably also contain an additional and different male screw-on thread configuration that mates to the female screw-on threaded component having the same configuration as that of the liquid compound, or paint, applicator.
The consumer would need to obtain information that identifies the specific screw-on thread configuration of such bottle, as well as information that identifies the specific screw-on thread configuration of such liquid compound applicator and also would require additional information identifying to the existence, and the availability, and the location or process that is required to obtain such an apparatus to be utilized as a union, mounting device, adapter, or coupling apparatus for coupling such bottle with the dissimilarly threaded liquid compound applicator.
Furthermore, unless the coupling apparatus is specifically designed or constructed to create a leak-proof, or liquid-tight seal, between the threaded fluid supply and the coupling apparatus and, unless the coupling apparatus were specifically designed or constructed to create a leak-proof, or liquid-tight, seal between the coupling apparatus and the liquid compound applicator, the resulting assembly could be susceptible to leakage of fluids during the transmittal of fluid from the threaded fluid supply, through passage of any coupling apparatus, through the liquid compound applicator, and to application onto a substrate. Should leakage occur, the user may need to further employ personal protective equipment as protection from such leaking fluids, and may need to resort to containment and cleaning methods to eradicate the undesirable and potentially hazardous leaked fluid. Furthermore, if the user is not able to successfully achieve each of the above-described requirements, attachment of the liquid compound applicator onto the bottle, reservoir, or threaded fluid feed having a dissimilar screw-on thread configuration could not be achieved.
Within the plumbing industry, there exist many devices that are designed and manufactured to allow affixment if dissimilar screw-on thread configurations. It is well known by those skilled in the trade that traditional adapters allow for the union of pipes, conduit, and other such hollow and cylindrical or tubular channels. Such adapters may also allow for the union of separate sized tubular channels such that their union may allow for continuation of the inner channel. As such, for any given screw-on thread configuration, typical adapters allow for one specific screw-on thread configuration of a tubular channel to be affixed with one specific portion of said adapter, and one secondary, or dissimilar, screw-on thread configuration of a tubular channel to be affixed with the oppositely positioned portion of the adapter.
As such, should any of the connecting threaded tubular channels be of any different diameter or thread configuration, that specific adapter could not be utilized, thus a different adapter must be used. For example, a plumber may install a significant length of threaded water pipe. If the plumber chooses to utilize 0.7500 inch internally threaded water pipe for one portion of that length, and then utilize 0.5000 inch externally threaded water pipe for the remaining portion of that length, he may utilize a reducer, or union-connection between the two dissimilar pipes to allow continuation of water through those pipes. As such, a union-connection may contain an internally threaded portion about the inner circumference of such union-connector along one half of its length to accept the insertion of the smaller 0.5000 inch threaded pipe within that union-connector, as well as containing an external threaded portion about exterior circumference along one half of its opposite length to allow insertion within larger 0.7500 inch internally threaded pipe. Typically, such union-connector may have a larger girth, or diameter about its portion of length that contains the internal threads; likewise, such union connector may have a smaller girth, or diameter, about its portion of length that contains the external threads. In such example, should the exteriorly threaded pipe be slightly smaller in diameter or slightly larger in diameter, that specific reducer, or union-connection, could not be utilized because the diameter of the pipe had changed and therefore that specific union-connection connection would now be of dissimilar size as that of the pipe.
Other forms of screw-on threaded adapters, or unions, or couplers, exist in the form of cylindrical devices containing a cylindrical channel through its length, such as an internally threaded and externally threaded pipe. Such adapters (i) employ an exterior thread about the circumference of its length; and (ii) employ an interior thread about the length and circumference of its interior wall. As such, these are of unidirectional affixment whereas one smaller diameter thread is positioned concentrically within the interior, whilst one larger diameter thread is positioned concentrically about its exterior.
Commonly available are such devices that are insufficient in length to accommodate retrieval from within female-threaded cavities, or are of common thread configurations as those used within the machining industry, commonly referred to as machine threads, and not commonly found in standard bottle nor container industry; such threads are commonly referred to as GPI threads. Should one skilled in the art discover readily available devices such as described, wherein such thread configuration may allow for such device to be thread-mated, wherein the exterior threads, or male-threads, may be inserted within the female-threaded cavity of the liquid compound applicator, and then subsequently the inner threads of such device could be mounted about the male-threaded portion of a thread-mated bottle, reservoir, or fluid feed, such coupling device would have the shortcoming of an insufficient length to allow ease of extraction or retrieval from the female-threaded cavity of the liquid compound applicator. More so, such devices are not known to feature GPI Standard threads, such as those employed on standard liquid compound applicator bottles.
Furthermore, in such examples, should the thread configuration of the bottle, reservoir, or fluid feed change in configuration, or in diameter, such as to employ a different fluid source, the threaded coupling device as described cannot be utilized with the now-dissimilar thread configurations. Furtherly more, such threaded coupling device, unless specifically designed, or constructed, to create a leak-proof, or liquid-tight seal, between a threaded fluid supply and a coupling apparatus, and unless specifically designed, or constructed, to create a leak-proof, or liquid-tight, seal between such coupling apparatus and the affixed liquid compound applicator, would most likely be susceptible to leakage of the fluid during the transmittance of the fluid from the threaded fluid supply, during passage of the fluid through a coupling apparatus, during passage through a liquid compound applicator, and ultimately to a substrate. Should leakage occur, an operator of such device configuration would need to employ personal protective equipment for protection from the resulting leaking fluid and must further employ containment and cleaning methods to eradicate such leaked fluid.
The cleaning of, or removal of liquid compounds from such applicators is well-known in the art. The process is a difficult task that typically employs buckets, or sinks, or other type of liquid holding container to which water or other liquid solvent is dispensed for the purpose of flushing, or irrigating, or dissolving such liquid compound from an applicator. Typically, as the cleaning process is time-intensive, messy, and often times, one performing a cleaning task may opt to discard a previously utilized liquid compound applicator instead of taking the steps of cleaning the soiled applicator.
What is needed is an adapter, a union, or a coupling device of cylindrical form or multitude of adjoined cylindrical forms that: (i) maintains a continuation of path for fluid flow internally throughout its length; (ii) maintains an internal threaded cavity about one end portion of the length of the device, wherein the internal thread (female thread) configuration is in compliance with one standard bottle thread of the GPI thread specifications; (iii) maintains an internal threaded cavity about one oppositely positioned end portion of the length of the device, wherein the internal thread (female thread) configuration is in compliance with one standard bottle thread of the GPI thread specifications that may be dissimilar that the oppositely positioned internal thread; (iv) maintains an external thread (male thread) about the exterior of the device's cylindrical form in accordance with the thread configuration commonly referred to as 24-410 or 24/410 as identified by GPI thread specification about the length of the device, wherein such thread may be continuous about the length, or a portion of the length of, the exterior of such form; (v) such device creates a leak-proof, or water-tight, seal upon proper insertion or connection to a properly thread-mated liquid compound applicator; and (vi) such device creates a leak-proof, or water-tight, seal upon coupling with a properly thread-mated fluid supply.
What is also needed is an adapter or variation of an adapter maintaining the connectivity to threaded fluid feeds for which such fluid feed maintains a larger thread diameter than the applicator that allows connectivity between an applicator consisting of GPI 24-410 female threads and a fluid feed maintaining a screw-on thread of a larger diameter than that of the applicator itself. For example, paint bottles with a larger threaded opening, or mouth diameter, than that of the threaded portion of the applicator imposes a separate issue than one in which the bottle opening is smaller, in that, with reference to the applicator itself, a coupling device needs to employ an expanded diametrical region to accept the larger diameter threaded opening of the larger bottle. Within this example, what is needed is a coupling device with the aforementioned features that also may employ a wider threaded portion to accept coupling with a larger threaded bottle diameter than that of the applicator.
What is also needed is an adapter to connect the paint applicator to a fluid feed that supplies water or other solvent, such as a garden hose or utility hose, to enable a sufficient supply of solvent fluid through the applicator for flushing liquid compound from the applicator assembly to enable cleaning of and future reutilization of such applicator.